S.B. No. 502
AN ACT
relating to determinations of paternity; creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 160.302, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) An acknowledgment of paternity must:
(1) be in a record;
(2) be signed, or otherwise authenticated, under
penalty of perjury by the mother and the man seeking to establish
paternity;
(3) state that the child whose paternity is being
acknowledged:
(A) does not have a presumed father or has a
presumed father whose full name is stated; and
(B) does not have another acknowledged or
adjudicated father;
(4) state whether there has been genetic testing and,
if so, that the acknowledging man's claim of paternity is
consistent with the results of the testing; and
(5) state that the signatories understand that the
acknowledgment is the equivalent of a judicial adjudication of the
paternity of the child and that a challenge to the acknowledgment is
permitted only under limited circumstances [and is barred after
four years].
SECTION 2. Section 160.306, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.306. FILING FEE NOT REQUIRED. The bureau of vital
statistics may not charge a fee for filing:
(1) an acknowledgment of paternity;
(2) a [or] denial of paternity; or
(3) a rescission of an acknowledgment of paternity or
denial of paternity.
SECTION 3. Section 160.307, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.307. PROCEDURES [PROCEEDING] FOR RESCISSION. (a)
A signatory may rescind an acknowledgment of paternity or denial of
paternity as provided by this section [by commencing a proceeding
to rescind] before the earlier of:
(1) the 60th day after the effective date of the
acknowledgment or denial, as provided by Section 160.304; or
(2) the date [of the first hearing in] a proceeding to
which the signatory is a party is initiated before a court to
adjudicate an issue relating to the child, including a proceeding
that establishes child support.
(b) A signatory seeking to rescind an acknowledgment of
paternity or denial of paternity must file with the bureau of vital
statistics a completed rescission, on the form prescribed under
Section 160.312, in which the signatory declares under penalty of
perjury that:
(1) as of the date the rescission is filed, a
proceeding has not been held affecting the child identified in the
acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity, including a
proceeding to establish child support;
(2) a copy of the completed rescission was sent by
certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, to:
(A) if the rescission is of an acknowledgment of
paternity, the other signatory of the acknowledgment of paternity
and the signatory of any related denial of paternity; or
(B) if the rescission is of a denial of
paternity, the signatories of the related acknowledgment of
paternity; and
(3) if a signatory to the acknowledgment of paternity
or denial of paternity is receiving services from the Title IV-D
agency, a copy of the completed rescission was sent by certified or
registered mail to the Title IV-D agency.
(c) On receipt of a completed rescission, the bureau of
vital statistics shall void the acknowledgment of paternity or
denial of paternity affected by the rescission and amend the birth
record of the child, if appropriate.
(d) Any party affected by the rescission, including the
Title IV-D agency, may contest the rescission by bringing a
proceeding under Subchapter G to adjudicate the parentage of the
child.
SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 160.308, Family
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) After the period for rescission under Section 160.307
has expired, a signatory of an acknowledgment of paternity or
denial of paternity may commence a proceeding to challenge the
acknowledgment or denial only on the basis of fraud, duress, or
material mistake of fact. The proceeding may [must] be commenced
at any time before the issuance of an order affecting the child
identified in [fourth anniversary of the date] the acknowledgment
or denial, including an order relating to support of the child [is
filed with the bureau of vital statistics unless the signatory was a
minor on the date the signatory executed the acknowledgment or
denial. If the signatory was a minor on the date the signatory
executed the acknowledgment or denial, the proceeding must be
commenced before the earlier of the fourth anniversary of the date
of:
[(1) the signatory's 18th birthday; or
[(2) the removal of the signatory's disabilities of
minority by court order, marriage, or by other operation of law].
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
collateral attack on an acknowledgment of paternity signed under
this chapter may not be maintained after the issuance of an order
affecting the child identified in the acknowledgment, including an
order relating to support of the child [fourth anniversary of the
date the acknowledgment of paternity is filed with the bureau of
vital statistics unless the signatory was a minor on the date the
signatory executed the acknowledgment. If the signatory was a
minor on the date the signatory executed the acknowledgment, a
collateral attack on the acknowledgment of paternity may not be
maintained after the earlier of the fourth anniversary of the date
of:
[(1) the signatory's 18th birthday; or
[(2) the removal of the signatory's disabilities of
minority by court order, marriage, or by other operation of law].
SECTION 5. Section 160.309, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.309. PROCEDURE FOR [RESCISSION OR] CHALLENGE. (a)
Each signatory to an acknowledgment of paternity and any related
denial of paternity must be made a party to a proceeding to [rescind
or] challenge the acknowledgment or denial of paternity.
(b) For purposes of [the rescission of or] a challenge to an
acknowledgment of paternity or denial of paternity, a signatory
submits to the personal jurisdiction of this state by signing the
acknowledgment or denial. The jurisdiction is effective on the
filing of the document with the bureau of vital statistics.
(c) Except for good cause shown, while a proceeding is
pending to [rescind or] challenge an acknowledgment of paternity or
a denial of paternity, the court may not suspend the legal
responsibilities of a signatory arising from the acknowledgment,
including the duty to pay child support.
(d) A proceeding to [rescind or to] challenge an
acknowledgment of paternity or a denial of paternity shall be
conducted in the same manner as a proceeding to adjudicate
parentage under Subchapter G.
(e) At the conclusion of a proceeding to [rescind or]
challenge an acknowledgment of paternity or a denial of paternity,
the court shall order the bureau of vital statistics to amend the
birth record of the child, if appropriate.
SECTION 6. Section 160.312, Family Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 160.312. FORMS [FOR ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND DENIAL OF
PATERNITY]. (a) To facilitate compliance with this subchapter,
the bureau of vital statistics shall prescribe forms for the:
(1) acknowledgment of paternity;
(2) [and the] denial of paternity; and
(3) rescission of an acknowledgment or denial of
paternity.
(b) A valid acknowledgment of paternity, [or] denial of
paternity, or rescission of an acknowledgment or denial of
paternity is not affected by a later modification of the prescribed
form.
SECTION 7. Subchapter F, Chapter 160, Family Code, is
amended by adding Section 160.512 to read as follows:
Sec. 160.512. OFFENSE: FALSIFICATION OF SPECIMEN. (a) A
person commits an offense if the person alters, destroys, conceals,
fabricates, or falsifies genetic evidence in a proceeding to
adjudicate parentage, including inducing another person to provide
a specimen with the intent to affect the outcome of the proceeding.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the third
degree.
(c) An order excluding a man as the biological father of a
child based on genetic evidence shown to be altered, fabricated, or
falsified is void and unenforceable.
SECTION 8. Subsection (b), Section 160.607, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A proceeding seeking to adjudicate the parentage of a
child having a [disprove the father-child relationship between a
child and the child's] presumed father may be maintained at any time
if the court determines that:
(1) the presumed father and the mother of the child did
not live together or engage in sexual intercourse with each other
during the probable time of conception; or [and]
(2) the presumed father was precluded from commencing
a proceeding to adjudicate the parentage of the child before the
expiration of the time prescribed by Subsection (a) because of the
mistaken belief that he was the child's biological father based on
misrepresentations that led him to that conclusion [never
represented to others that the child was his own].
SECTION 9. Subsection (f), Section 160.608, Family Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(f) This section applies to a proceeding to [rescind or]
challenge an acknowledgment of paternity or a denial of paternity
as provided by Section 160.309(d).
SECTION 10. Subsection (a), Section 160.609, Family Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) If a child has an acknowledged father, a signatory to
the acknowledgment or denial of paternity may commence a proceeding
under this chapter [seeking to rescind the acknowledgment or denial
or] to challenge the paternity of the child only within the time
allowed under Section [160.307 or] 160.308.
SECTION 11. (a) The changes in law made by this Act with
respect to an acknowledgment or denial of paternity apply only to an
acknowledgment or denial of paternity that becomes effective on or
after the effective date of this Act. An acknowledgment or denial
of paternity that became effective before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the
acknowledgment or denial of paternity became effective, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act with respect to a
proceeding to adjudicate parentage apply only to a proceeding that
is commenced on or after the effective date of this Act. A
proceeding to adjudicate parentage commenced before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
proceeding was commenced, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 502 passed the Senate on
March 24, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2011, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 502 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 20, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 149,
Nays 0, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor